Investigative journalist David Cay Johnston on Donald Trump: 'He talks like a 13 year-old boy struggling with puberty & will tell you whatever he needs to tell you to get what he wants'

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By Gareth Vaughan

David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist who has probed and written about the affairs of Donald Trump for 28 years, says his biggest fear of a Trump presidency is if he starts firing generals.

Johnston published a book in August entitled The Making of Donald Trump. Speaking to interest.co.nz via Skype from Berlin, where he has been promoting the book and giving media interviews about President-elect Trump, Johnston said Trump talks about the President as if he's a dictator.

"He does not understand the duties, powers and limits of the presidency. He talks like a dictator, as if the US President is an agent like he [Trump] is running his own enterprise, who does whatever he damn pleases," said Johnston.

Asked what his biggest fear is from a Trump presidency, Johnston said it was the possibility of Trump following through on his suggestion during the election campaign that he might fire generals.

"The classic sign someone is going to take over and end a republic, go back and read your Roman history on this, comes when you fire generals whose allegiance [is] to country and replace them with craven junior officers who in return for promotion will carry out the orders of the leader who their allegiance is to," Johnston said.

"[If] Donald Trump starts firing general officers everyone on the planet had better be very scared. Maybe it won't happen and if it doesn't that's great, I hope it doesn't. But if it does, that would be very troublesome."

Johnston, who first met Trump in Atlantic City in 1988, describes him as a man with a history of erratic behaviour, noting Trump was "shipped off" to a military academy by his father when he was 13 years old because he was a trouble maker.

"He [Trump] has said the junior classmen were brutalised at that school and other people have said that. Something happened to him at that school at that time because emotionally he is essentially a 13 year-old boy. The way he talks about women, the way he talks about himself, he talks like a 13 year-old boy struggling with puberty," said Johnston.

"He is not by any stretch of the imagination as wealthy as he claims. There is not now and never has been, never has been, any verifiable evidence that he's worth even $1 billion. He's a wealthy man, that's beyond dispute. And that's important because Donald Trump exaggerates all the time. He says Trump Tower is 68 stories high, it's 58 stories. He has put out false stories about all sorts of things over the years because he has this desperate need to exaggerate as well as to win."

'Donald is a master salesman'

Johnston describes Trump as a con man who has conned the American public.

"He [Trump] will tell you whatever he needs to tell you to get what he wants," said Johnston.

"Donald is a master salesman. He is the best manipulator of the conventions of journalism I have ever seen. He's brilliant at finding journalists like at The New York Post who don't care about the facts. They care about getting a big story."

Asked about Trump's conciliatory election night speech and whether a nicer, more inclusive Trump may emerge as President, Johnston said this won't happen.

"No. The speech you saw on the night that he won was a magnanimous speech. It was a speech that even con artists like Donald Trump will do when he has gotten what he's seeking. And he was surprised that night. There's no question looking at him and the family. They were surprised by this [election victory]."

"He's going to appoint a divisive cabinet, he's going to appoint people who are going to pursue Donald's policies. Donald's a racist, he's a misogynist...He's going to appoint people he's comfortable with. And his over riding demand will be absolute fealty to him, and loyalty," said Johnston.

A registered Republican, Johnston says his work on Trump is as an investigative reporter and describes himself as a policy, not a political, person. He also teaches business regulation, property and tax law at Syracuse University’s law and graduate business schools.

'One of the biggest welfare kings in America'

Johnston has written that "abundant evidence" shows the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the New York State attorney general should initiate criminal investigations of Trump, his charitable foundation and his personal tax returns. (Johnston has also written another article that lists 21 questions for Trump).

Asked whether he thinks these investigations may actually happen, Johnston said he hopes so.

"There's abundant grounds to do this. There's nine illegal acts committed by the Donald J Trump Foundation, which doesn't have any money from Donald Trump in it. It's clear that he has lied in the past when he has said that he'd donate royalties from his book The Art of the Deal and from Trump the Game [a board game]... there are badges of fraud on Donald's 1984 tax return."

Asked whether Trump will be a saviour to people who voted for him because they are disgruntled with the system and the political establishment, Johnston said no.

"I've spent the last 22 years documenting inequality and writing a trilogy of books and other things showing how government policies nobody knew about, but I dug out of public records with a lot of hard work, quite literally take money out of the pockets of the vast majority of Americans and redistribute them to people like Donald Trump. Donald Trump's one of the biggest welfare kings in America."

Johnston said his books are written so people with no more than a high school education can read them. However, he acknowledges most people don't read policy books, and don't think about policy.

"Trump knows this and Trump came along and did what demagogues do. He knew that people were hurting. The bottom 90% of Americans' income has been essentially flat for 50 years, as a statistical measure not individuals in that group. Donald comes along and instead of saying 'this government policy takes money out of your pocket and funnels it to Warren Buffet', he says 'well, it's the Mexicans, it's the Chinese, it's the Muslims, it's the black criminals, it's that idiot in the White House.' And to many people that's the level to which they understand things."

"He also, however, said wages are too high. People were not paying attention to him. He has a long history of cheating workers including executives."

"What we are seeing here is people are so desperate, and if you're in the bottom 90% of Americans things are not good," said Johnston. "People at the bottom they're in fear. Their jobs are disappearing."

"The people who voted for Trump really were voting to blow up the system. Some of them understand he can't do what he says," said Johnston, adding some others are true believers thinking Trump will save them and does care about them.

"He doesn't care about anybody but Donald Trump, the genetically superior Donald Trump we should all adore and worship and glory in. And if we don't he has a word for us, loser."

Johnston points out Trump has cheated illegal immigrants he hired out of the $4 an hour they were to be paid. Trump has also been sued repeatedly by people who invested in Trump projects. In one case, where investors lost about $20 million, Trump suggested they should be happy because if the project had gone on they could have lost $60 million.

"By the way Trump got paid up front. He always does that, that's his standard business deal. Other people take the risk. He then sucks cash out of the enterprise as fast as he can. Eventually the enterprise weakens because in essence it has a parasite on the host. And then he abandons it and moves on."

"So long as he can do another deal then he's going to have plenty of revenue coming in. He does not grow wealth, he does not manage businesses. And he has actually written that himself. 'I'm not an operator' he has written," said Johnston.

'In the embrace of criminals his whole life'

In the Skype interview Johnston was keen to emphasise Trump's links to known criminals, which are detailed in The Making of Donald Trump.

"Donald Trump has been in the embrace of criminals his whole life. His grandfather was a draft dodger from Germany who came to America and made a fortune by running whorehouses and was a pimp. And when he tried to go back to Germany they threw him out."

"Donald's father had a business partner who was an associate of the Genovese and Gambino organised crime families. Donald has been involved with all sorts of criminals, - Russian mobsters, Mafioso, con artists, but the most important one of all was a guy named Joe Weichselbaum. A twice convicted felon and mob associate when Donald decided to have him provide helicopters for his casinos."

"About a year after he was hired it turned out Joe Weichselbaum had another business. He was a very major cocaine and marijuana trafficker involved with the Colombian cartels and he moved drugs from Miami to Cincinnati, Ohio. When he's caught he agrees to plead guilty and he asks for his case to be transferred to Miami or New York City, the two places where he lives. Instead, and no one has ever been able to explain this, the case is moved to New Jersey and it comes before Federal Judge Marianne Trump Barry, Donald's older sister," said Johnston.

"Now three weeks later she removes herself from the case. But in so doing she had to tell the chief judge 'you know my husband is the lawyer from Donald's casinos, flies in this guy's helicopters all the time, and I fly in them all the time.' A sitting federal judge routinely flying in a confessed drug trafficker's helicopters."

"Donald meanwhile wrote a letter pleading for mercy for Joe Weichselbaum. 'Diligent citizen, a credit to the community, shouldn't get much jail time'. And when asked about this letter by law enforcement, he denied writing it," Johnston added.

"Here's the question that should be asked, and I don't know the answer to it. Why would you write that letter? The obvious question is you risked your casino licence, your unbelievably lucrative casino licence to write that letter. You lied and covered up about it... Were you investing in the drug deals? Were you financing Joe Weichselbaum's drug deals? Nobody asked that question. If it's true that that happened, holy mackerel is that important."

'Donald's all about winning'

Johnston said although Trump would personally profit from his presidency, this was not his goal in running for president. Rather, his goal was to "win the biggest prize of all because Donald's all about winning."

"But the arrangement that he has proposed is absurd. And yes, the family will make money and it's a perfect scam for a criminal operation or for being pressured. If you're a foreign government and you're one of the best friends of the king or the sheik or the dictator who runs a country, you will be able to steer deals to him," said Johnston.

In terms of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, which Trump says he'll pull the US out of, Johnston said Trump won't have his head around China seizing the opportunity to step in and take the lead. That's "way too sophisticated" for Trump to get his head around, Johnston said, based on his meetings with Trump and what other people have said about him.

'The American public don't know these things'

Whilst Johnston has a high profile and is in demand internationally to talk about Trump, he's disappointed more of his fellow Americans don't know the details about Trump outlined in his book, and that his fellow journalists don't ask enough tough questions of Trump.

"Everything I've talked about with you is public record. At the back of my book there are 44 pages of references to documents that you can check out. There's no unnamed sources, and it's not my opinion. By and large it's mostly fact, fact, fact, fact, fact with a little analysis at the beginning and a little at the end."

"The American public don't know these things. Even though my book was on the bestseller list we sold what, 50,000 copies in four weeks maybe in a country of 320 million people. And if there's no coverage by TV, by my former newspapers The New York Times, LA Times, by the Associated Press, then nobody knows this stuff. And this is a real failure of journalism and the duty to watchdog and to ask the tough questions," said Johnston.

We welcome your help to improve our coverage of this issue. Any examples or experiences to relate? Any links to other news, data or research to shed more light on this? Any insight or views on what might happen next or what should happen next? Any errors to correct?

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HeavyG, from my perspective there is no crying over spilt milk. Rather a case of looking into who the next Commander in Chief of the world's most powerful military, and President of the country with the world's biggest economy, actually is. Even in NZ, this is useful to know.

Hmmm youve made no comment on the content which suggests a criminality about Trump. The suggestion is that he's unfit for office, and cant do complexity. So things called "negotiations" will throw him into a tail spin.

I live in Eastern Canada & believe me nobody here likes Trump either. Hillary is now 2,000,000 votes ahead in the popular vote which lets face it should make her POTUS if it were a TRUE Democracy. Alas the electoral college system is nothing better than an INDIRECT Democracy and the result is a leader who is definitely NOT Popular
Already this clown has cost the USA the TPP and with it US influence in the Pacific. A region the US navy won over Japan in WW2 but Trump doesnt even read books so wouldnt know that.
By the way Trump was never top of his class at Wharton as his stooges claim either. In fact fellow students say he was always taking off for weekends home and wasn't even noticed for anything special.

I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure the election was in the United States, not Canada... Remember its the President of the United States, not people. There are many ways the Electoral collage is better than raw number of votes in a country as vast as the USA one glaring fact is it would sway candidates to just promote themselves in major city centres leaving huge parts of the country ignored due to lower population density's.

The article reads very strongly biased. The excerpt about Trump’s worth contradicts statements made by sources that are not less veritable, for example here: http://www.forbes.com/profile/donald-trump/?list=billionaires. So, go figure…
More importantly though, Trump has voiced the thoughts and concerns that many Americans – as well as people worldwide – have thought and felt for some time now, including the downsides of globalization, the rising inequality, the corruption of the present establishment, the international conduct of the US, the terrorism of Islamic extremists, etc., etc. Trumps messages resonated strongly with many, including roughly half of the population in the US.
Is he an ideal messenger? – Far from it [insert any of Trump’s character deficiencies here]. It would be great if the messenger was a well-mannered intellectual, with loads of pertinent knowledge, skill, experience, and charisma. The reality is, however: there was no other messenger who openly and loudly asserted the message that resonated so clearly with so many.
How will it work out? – Who knows? The Americans decided to take their chances and attempt to change things, rather than endure another period of the same.
For what it’s worth, I think it may work out well. Time will tell.

I am sick of hearing about this issue , Trump has won the Presidency , far and square , and if you were an unemployed person of any colour living in close third-world poverty in the depressing Rust belt or small town America , and someone offered you hope, you would also vote for them .

Basically from what I have seen , America has exported its prosperity to China and other slave-wage economies , and many Americans are living in worse poverty than many Mexicans

If Tony Blair is the answer, then the question is high on illicit substances. He is reported to be launching an organisation to examine why the “centre left” has been overwhelmed by the forces of populism. It’s as though he’s a spectator, a passive commentator, a bystander, rather than a leading contributor to this age of political calamity. Someone who should be in the dock is electing himself chief prosecutor. Read more

Alan Milburn, the former Labour health minister and government social mobility tsar, is at the helm of a new group funded in part by Sir Richard Branson to fight Britain’s exit from the European Union. Read more

America is systematically exporting its prosperity to low-wage economies and the consequences have been dire , so recognizing this and dining out during the campaign on this issue does not make Trump a salesman.

It was very ' smart' , to use a word Trump uses to describe himself

Trump has been called everything you can imagine, sometimes in contradiction , but you have got to admit that he is more in touch with struggling Americans than Clinton is or was

John Key and Donald Trump — worlds apart? Think again. Political commentator Geoffrey Miller looks at five surprising similarities shared by the New Zealand Prime Minister and the US President-elect.
By Geoffrey Miller

John Key and Donald Trump - worlds apart? Think again. Political commentator Geoffrey Miller looks at five surprising similarities shared by the New Zealand Prime Minister and the US President-elect.

This article is full of innuendo and biased as - with links made that are doubtful at the very best. No ones sugggesting Trump is a saint, or comes from a patrician family. I note that a worse article could be prepared on Hilary and her links to the Foundation and receipts from offshore "Governments". Its all a bit of a beat up. Best to give Trump a chance. Its the NZ way!

"Everything I've talked about with you is public record. At the back of my book there are 44 pages of references to documents that you can check out. There's no unnamed sources, and it's not my opinion. By and large it's mostly fact, fact, fact, fact, fact with a little analysis at the beginning and a little at the end."

"By the way Trump got paid up front. He always does that, that's his standard business deal. Other people take the risk. He then sucks cash out of the enterprise as fast as he can. Eventually the enterprise weakens because in essence it has a parasite on the host. And then he abandons it and moves on."

Hmmm... sounds like the exact wording you would read on public record. Not.

If Donald was really a racist why has he given jobs to thousands of immigrants? If he really is against women why do way more women hold senior positions in his companies than most other companies? He was only called a racist (by those opposing him) when he was running for office. This article is mainly when Donald is in power he will do this and this and that and that, Give the guy a chance and let his results speak for themselves. At least Donald is not the Clintons.

What the left never seem to realise is that capitalism doesn't discriminate, by its very nature. Even if Trump is only worth a fraction of what he claims to be, he couldn't of got there on the basis of systematic discrimination.

Ironically, it is only the left that genuinely desire discrimination..

A couple of observations. The trust-level of journalists in the US is at all time low. Very few actually believe them anymore and to be honest if a journalist said to me it is raining outside I would check for myself. So even if everything he said is right no one believes him, a la Cassandra.
Second, Hillary is such a criminal that it is hard to see how Trump could be any worse. For the complex realities of the US the two major parties put forward two awful candidates and highly flawed individuals. However, Trump becoming a dictator is laughable.

Trump winning the presidency was laughable, three weeks ago.
Trump winning the Republican nomination was laughable, two years ago.
I'm not so sure of anything anymore. Trump will want to run the country the way he runs his companies. What happens when he runs into legislative hurdles? You're fired.

I've said this before, but it continues to amaze me how many people claim Trump's win was such a huge surprise.

Trump winning the presidency was "laughable" only to those not paying attention. Too many people dismissed Trump out of hand despite the obvious hatred for Clinton in many areas, and Trump's own clear populist approach which was obviously going to generate votes. Anyone who was "surprised" when Trump won was clearly dismissing him due to their own personal viewpoint and not from a position of objectivity. It was clear to anyone looking impartially at the election that it would be a very close run thing and could quite easily have gone either way in the end. Brexit was the same - anyone expecting a landslide for either position was clearly not paying attention.

Trump becoming a dictator is laughable. Will he cause some economic issues for the US (and, potentially, the world) - probably. Will he make mistakes on foreign policy - certainly; every other US president in history has, so Trump won't be any better there.

Will he be rescinding the Constitution, running new Muslim internment camps, in conjunction with the KKK, and nuking the North Koreans by 2018 - no, and the mass hysteria and hyperbole in the media is getting tiresome. Maybe it's because Trump's hyperbole begets counter hyperbole, but the better way to deal with it would be reason.

Totally agree - Trump winning was predicable given that many people are not happy with the state of society but too many people hurl insults and vilify those that disagree with them. However, no one knows how who vote.

oh please, Gareth you're such a good writer, but this US politician bashing stuff is beneath you...focus on the policies and economics, leave character assassination books to the New York Times and CNN...no mention in the article of all the construction work Trump's done for decades, people he's employed etc etc..

Well given that before an election people are inclined to say anything to gain power, then furiously back pedal when they have it (Trump's a clear demonstration of that) there is not much point in playing the policies and seeing it is the man from where the policies emanate..............

Hi, PocketAces so which of the trump policies has he clearly demonstrated he has 'furiously back pedaled' from? Please create a list for us. His main policies are on the link below, which has he changed his mind on?

Of course he will need to get them through the house so not all of them may become reality of course, such is the same with any administration, but not getting them through the house isn't back pedaling.

Lock her up -
- where in his policy agenda was this ever a 'policy'?
Climate Change
- what policy has he changed on this?
Building a wall
- well even Mexico wants to build a wall on its southern boarder. It might be a 'fence' as a fence would be a better structure in some parts. So your argument is around he promised a wall but will maybe build a fence and that upsets you about him because you were expecting a wall and not a wall/fence combo, now you feel ripped off? The policy was though to protect US boarders - where has he said he no longer wants to do this? (I mean he may have come out and said 'I'm all for open boarders now that I'm in government' but I just haven't been following it that closely).
Obama care
- are you saying he said he will keep Obama care and not bring in health savings accounts now? Where did he say that? Which of his healthcare reform points has he gone back on?

Just off the top of my head, he hasn't changed any policy materially at all. Please read the link and restate which ones he has gone back on.

Just because one does not get the desired result that one would have expected.

Also one should stop blaming the people as how can one say that trump has conned the people -may be people have been used and conned uptill now and now with social media, internet and all have more access to information and can make informed decisions.

There are simplicities and irrefutable truths to be seen in action here. Journalists are not made so just by their claim that they are, many are just presenters, cliche, scripted and oblivious. Journalists interviewing other journalists does not reinforce the topic or content in its relevance or veracity. Media outlets only pay for messages they feel will gain more attention or want to promote. Referring to others published opinions on the actions or statements of a third party as fact is just the same as claiming the christian bible or islamic quran, among others, to be fact. It is not and degrees of separation inserted still do not make it so.

He did offer hope and change; supplying healthcare for those who couldn't afford it something that we take for granted here.

I was quite shocked when a European friend of mine having lived in the US for a number of years, mentioned that their attitude in the US is if you don't or can't afford healthcare insurance then you don't have a right to live.

actually CJ099 ... if you take a planet wide perspective .. all other megafauna/animals etc would be more than happy with that position. Something needed to keep human population in check... too late now.

Sophisticated societies are able to take care of their people, we managed to do that in Europe for years now, no matter their circumstances. The US is certainly wealthy enough to look after it's people, just the rich choose not to do so out of greed.

And you know what happens when you don't take care of the majority - the rich elite get over thrown, it's happens time and again over centuries.

CJ099 - This isn't really backed by history - Europe like the rest of the west plundered resources / energy from wherever else it could to "take care" of its people - its got nothing to do with sophistication.

@ Ham & Eggs: I think you're missing my point entirely. I'm referring to the healthcare and education systems that protect everyone as an example the UK's NHS System founded in 1948 by William Beveridge. The development of which we have inherited and benefited from.

A developed; better educated and therefore more sophisticated society would want to maintain Beveridge's views to fight the five 'Giant Evils' of 'Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness'.

After 28 yrs of studying trump... this guy is afflicted with "Trump fixation".. ... A hint of paranoia...and a touch of psychosis..... ( maybe interest.co... is suffering the same..?? )

Asked what his biggest fear is from a Trump presidency, Johnston said it was the possibility of Trump following through on his suggestion during the election campaign that he might fire generals.

"The classic sign someone is going to take over and end a republic, go back and read your Roman history on this, comes when you fire generals whose allegiance [is] to country and replace them with craven junior officers who in return for promotion will carry out the orders of the leader who their allegiance is to," Johnston said.

Maybe so Gareth.... BUT... the guys biggest fear is that Trump does a "Caeser".... Really..??
In the realms of possibility...what are the chances of that...????? ( We are talking about America )

"He [Trump] has said the junior classmen were brutalised at that school and other people have said that. Something happened to him at that school at that time because emotionally he is essentially a 13 year-old boy. The way he talks about women, the way he talks about himself, he talks like a 13 year-old boy struggling with puberty," said Johnston.

Gareth ...read this (above) and tell me its worthy of a Pulitzer prize winning journalist..????
Whats the innuendo...?? That Trump got buggered and now hates women... and this left him with an emotional age of 3....???? Oh.. please.!!! Is this the kind of writing u endorse..??

You know.... at times , I've talked about women in the same way Trump did.... Spoken in drunken jest...and stupidity. Some have labled my sense of humor as sexist and puerile.. does that mean I'm a woman hater..??
We live in such a PC world gone mad.... soon even ones sense of humor will be censored..??
AND... in the piss drinking rugby days... there were guys far worse than me... ( I'm a good christian boy)

I'm not a Trump supporter...per se.... I'm willing to let him prove himself as President..
Its' the election reporting media that I have issues with.... and the above article is part of that....
Its not even covert...the bias is out in the open..
its akin to throwing mud.... believing that some must stick..???
AND... in that , they play the people as fools .... ( maybe I am )

No, the way a huge part of Trump never grew up, was that he came from a privileged background, protected from the bumps and troughs that hone a person as they mature. Frankly, I see him and all I can come up with, from some of his antics is "mummy's boy"

Seroiusly? when Trump is the result? Privilege is only good for the privileged and you can just forget establishing a new kind of elite here after spending the last few months dissing another kind.
A superiority complex never looked good on anyone.

With the reality of privilege we get into some difficult territory. Do we 100% tax inheritance to create a level playing field? What if your parents are especially good looking and intelligent, how do get around that? Are people of certain countries more privileged? Is the privilege of being a Kiwi unfair?

I am being constantly amazed by the defence of Trump and his 180deg turns on so many things. This could get interesting especially with the likes of Richard Spencer and Stephen Bannon in the thick of things. Going to get much worse before it gets better, and I wonder what everyone's threshold will be where Trump and his actions go for those who currently think he's the best thing since sliced bread.
If still haven't or are reluctant to, I still recommend you watch the documentary :"You've been Trumped" from 2011.It was that demonstrated to me this guy is a nasty piece of work, and nothing, so far, has happened to change my mind.

Read Robert Altemeyer's 'The Authoritarians', which is available for free on the web, and it'll all make sense. The authoritarian personality will compartmentalise, rationalise, dismiss, and go through all kinds of irrational mental gymnastics and scapegoating to defend a chosen authority figure, no matter what that chosen authority figure subsequently does. Also makes the point that if you're a scumsucking politician looking for a bunch of dupes who will defend you unquestioningly whilst you pick their pockets, this is the personality type to target.

He pointed out that America was exporting its prosperity ( and jobs) to Asia , and he would stop it .

He cant stop it , although he will try to

He said he would defeat the Muslim fundamentalist ISIS

Yeah right .

Prosecute Clinton , Huh what happened to that one ?

Build a wall with Mexico ( in 4 years )?

Bearing in mind it took China 800 years to build a wall to keep people out and the Empire still collapsed when people went around the wall . The Maginot line, which almost bankrupted France , was also built to keep Germans out of France , they simply by-passed it .

Everything he said was questionable from a practical point of view , he simply played to the audience .

C'mon people take a look at the heading. DOH! Of course he is and did. It was patently obvious to anyone with a brain cell to figure out what Trump was doing. I don't care if this guy is a republican or not, party membership in america is a bit like party membership in China, if you want to get anywhere and you don't have mega-bucks to lube the way, you need a party membership and a church affiliation. What counts is what he states is the basis - every single one of his statements are based on public domain documents that are referable. In other words they are provable. All this guy is doing is stating the obvious, and backing it up with publicly available proof.

My question is what can we do about it other than make the best of what we have been dealt?

Oh of course, cos you said so. Must be true then.
I think people's issue in this article is the assumption that because some journalist says he is a 13-year old boy, a racist and misogynist, that of course he must be.
Also, he tries to back up his insults by saying it is all on public record. If that is so, tell us exactly the details, rather than things like "he cheated some Mexicans out of their wages". Pretty sure any public record wouldn't say it like that.
This sort of journalism actually helps Trump's case, because when you come across as biased, no one will believe you.

B-Rocker, the comments you are criticing Johnston for making are from the video interview. The details backing up things like cheating workers out of their wages are in his book, with 44 pages of references at the end.

Gareth, I don't have much doubt that his opinion can be backed up. But do I really have to wade through 44 pages of references to be able to get some facts without someone else's slant on those facts?
Why can't there be articles on the likes of interest.co.nz that give me some facts without chucking in a reference that I'm never going to read?
Here we finally have someone who reportedly has done a boat load of genuine unbiased research into Trump's past, and still all we get is an article that presents facts in a biased way.
I don't want to hear that he is racist; I want to see a whole series of matter-of-fact statements of things that he has done/said so that I can make up my own mind about whether he is or not.

So you can't be bothered to wade through 44 pages of references, to form you own conclusion but you want this web site to spoon feed a few facts to you in an unbiased way, presumably so as to not contradict your own preconceived ideas on him. You state "I don't want to hear he is racist" well 5 minutes with google should give you a a fair idea on that matter.
The behaviour of Trump, the speeches and comments he has made over that last year or so, and the historical stuff outlined in the article above, are not those of a normal individual but of a dangerous narcissist. It is hard to fathom why you and many others here on a financial blog site could come to a different conclusion, it really is incredible.

Yes I do want to be spoon fed facts.
No I can't be bothered to read 44 pages of references. I would rather have a journalist tell me the facts and then give me the reference in case I question it.
5 minutes of google is exactly the wrong type of research.
I have not come to any conclusion (well not any that I have laid out here). You must have me confused with someone else.

Hey dftba. Since you've obviously read the book including the references, do you mind giving me a link to the source of this fact:
"He does not understand the duties, powers and limits of the presidency. He talks like a dictator, as if the US President is an agent like he [Trump] is running his own enterprise, who does whatever he damn pleases," said Johnston."

It's also not my job to educate you.
.
But I can easily repeat what Gareth has already told you: the writer was referring to the facts in his book. He wasn't referring to statements made in the interview with Gareth.
.

B-Rocker - you would've voted for Trump wouldn't you? I know the political establishment needs a gigantic boot up the arse - the world over, not just America, but potentially Trump is the worst person to do it. He is a billionaire business man, and the reforms needed - well an analogy about a fish in a fish tank having to consider where he goes to the toilet comes to mind. There is no way trump can or will do the reforms needed.

Johnston is very right about the dangers when he starts sacking generals. the US military is as political as their Government is and rank is certainly no indication of competency, and in many cases could be argued that the more competent a military leader one is, the less likely it is that They'll make General.

You're not even on topic Murray. I haven't given any indication on whether I like Trump or not. I'm talking about whether or not this is biased reporting (or if not biased at least unhelpful).
By the way you have written your comment, I assume you are someone who takes a line such as "he cheated Mexicans out of their wages" as fact, without question simply because it is acceptable for you to have that view.

I don't assume any of his summaries are fact. I do realise that Johnston is doing just as others do, using emotive language to elicit a reaction. And of course it is biased after all he is an INVESTIGATIVE journo. If Trump had nothing salacious to report on why would he bother? If you want to be truly critical why not find someone to report on how Trump is a fine, upstanding citizen who is a paragon of all we should aspire to be? Knocking the knockers achieves nothing which is what you're doing. What you should have asked is what are the facts behind his comments, and if you don't agree, provided the basis.

As it is I suggest to you that Johnston has stated the obvious, Trump did behave like a child, he did make promises and statements that there was no way he could live up to if he won. But he did win, and America and the world has to know what they've let themselves in for. this is the underlying salient lesson. A corrupt electoral system designed to protect the political elite, and the status quo has come back to bite them. There will be consequences and many of them will not be pretty. Most of all, I think the people will suffer more because of their gullibility.

As for the "he cheated Mexicans out of their wages" like all things I want to see the proof before I assess the factuallity of this statement.

"What you should have asked is what are the facts behind his comments, and if you don't agree, provided the basis"
See above Murray; I did.
Not interested in your views on him (your entire second paragraph), would rather have facts.
Regarding your last paragraph, I guess you agree with my entire point then.

the intelligentsia are upset because they think they have been outsmarted by a halfwit but really it was a vote for change. vox populi vox dei,sick of the fat people telling the thin people to tighten their belts.sick of losing their jobs.no different here picked up a tin of watties asparagus and the label says made in Peru!

Yeah that whole Watties thing is laughable. I was cleaning out my shed the other day and found my trudty Commodore 64. The label read "Made in England". After regaining consciousness I realised that I've experienced Trump before. Trump is a male Thatcher.

It's almost certain that he is going to go on a privatisation binge. Voters remorse wIll be on the US dinner menu very soon.

You'd struggle to find a commentator with more credibility than Johnston. Amazes me how many Kiwis on these 'two piss ant rocks 200 miles south of nowheresville' are absolutely convinced they know better than deeply immersed american based analysts.
Trump's ability to deliver on the undertakings he made is , thank goodness, very much constrained by the system. But Johnston's alarm at Trumps stated intention to replace generals with fellow travelling stooges is justified. Let's fervently hope that a crisis which risks enveloping the world does not arise during his term.

That would also amaze me if somebody who had done no research on a particular topic thought they knew better than someone who had done a lot of research. Oh no wait it wouldn't surprise me at all.
What amazes me is the arrogance of people who claim that voters were duped. How the heck do they know what people were voting on?

Its called 'pay to play'.
No one in their right mind pays Clinton millions for speeches.
They are buying influence, now their influence and power has mostly gone I suspect their speaking schedule will miraculously dry up.
Why is the NZ tax payer funding anything to do with the Clintons or their charities?

So this chap Johnson is a "policy guy" - could we next see an analysis of Trump's racist and sexist policies and the means by which these policies will get through Congress? The US system is set up so you can't have dictatorial control so can Johnson also credibly demonstate how Trump will "take control and end the Republic"?

America created people like Trump and the circumstances for Trump to become President. Call it Capitalism, Lobbyism, Individualism, 'Foundation'ism, Nepotism, or whatever. The rest of the world better accept that and move on or wait till Trump proves his alleged incompetency, racism, etc in governing. For all we know, he may not even be a hands on President. Looks like the Media world over has a bad case of getting it wrong and now trying very hard to prove that the winner is wrong.

The author of the book says ' "The people who voted for Trump really were voting to blow up the system. Some of them understand he can't do what he says,"

So, Trump may not really blow up the system ?
Either way, half of America would be happy ?

At the end of the day Trump won, he will be president, he deserves the chance to make real changes, I don't believe it will be as bad as the hysterical media implies. Its not a personality contest. He needs to be a tough guy to get things done in a broken system and has a near impossible job. America deserves a chance at real change for the better. Whether Trump can bring that I don't know. What I do know is that Hillary couldn't. The media have an unhealthy fascination with Trump beat ups, time to move on, yes, yes Trump may not be a nice person we got the message, the media wanted Hillary, yes we got that message too. Hillary would have kept things as they were, yes, that was the comfortable option. Trumps the unknown. He is his own man. He says what he feels and doesn't care, and people twist what he said and hang him for it, he doesn't careful script and memorise like Hillary....
..... but Hillary didn't win.

I was happy Trump won, not because I know anything about him and not because I followed the election.
Quite the opposite, I listened to our own media bagging him, to Patti Gower discovering that 20 something years ago Trump said to a NZ reporter that he had zero interest in being president. Patti and our media thought this was ground breaking investigative journalism.
I was happy Trump won because the same NZ journalists who think our immigration policy of filling NZ up with people is economic brilliance, were bagging him.
I was happy Trump won as I heard Hillary rattling her saber, threatening Russia and Iran. I also Heard Trump say the US needed to overhaul their foreign policy and stop playing world policeman and bring their troops home.
That was enough for me, If I was a US citizen, a president who wants to change there foreign policy to something less aggressive got my vote.

My vote is still floating middleman. I am very anti population growth but agree with JK on a lot of stuff.
I think the point I was making was most voters don't get very immersed in their countries politics. The average vote is won or lost on one or two policies.

It is sad to see the press everywhere day after day Trump this Trump that. They voted, he won, yes the electoral college system can give power without majority, but that has favoured both parties in the past. The ongoing mexia beat up....its like some Hydra like central control plot from a James Bond movie.

Good observation , but the key issue was that Trump went straight to America's source of pain ......... that America had exported its prosperity to Asia and other low-wage economies resulting in middle America being unemployed and struggling to make ends meet with many living in what can only be descried as second -world poverty .

Excellent piece. Many Trump voters will not be interested in analysis and unable to do so. The inability of these people to assess truth claims is a problem. Their disgust at the thought comes from their gut their emotions. When we all start to vote with our guts , god help us.

At the risk of sounding sexist , which I am not , I believe the US mainstream media got the prediction wrong because the media organisations are either run by women or strongly influenced by women in key decision making positions . Trump was seen as an anathema to all liberated women , including notably almost all New Zealand women that I have come into contact with , my wife with whom I have been for over 30 years , included

A Trump win was unthinkable for the inherently left -leaning liberal media , they would simply not believe/ accept / acknowledge that anyone would vote for someone they successfully portrayed as a sexist , racist , bigotted , nutter , ignoring it was Trump who offered hope and change, promised a strong administration , would stop illegal migration , bring back jobs and prosperity that had been exported to Asia and other low-wage economies , would secure America's borders , stop Islamic radical internal terrorism , defeat ISIS , make Japan and Korea pay for its own defense , boost the US economy , repair America's crumbling infrastructure, create jobs , drain the swamp of the corrupt people in Washington and general make America great again .

Trump's message(s) were a winner for disenfranchised struggling middle America ,be they male , female , black , white Hispanic or Asian and I can understand perfectly well why they voted for him .

Even if he did not win the popular vote , he got 25% of the black vote and even Hispanics voted for him , and I read that nearly 40 % of women voted for him.

I'm surprised about the level of denial from most commentators, maybe because of the severity of Johnsons accusations ? I hope like hell he's wrong about Trump, because he paints a picture of a dictator like Kim Jong Un (North Korean leader) and that would be catastrophical when you're at the head of the most formidable military power in the world. Then again Johnson does have a Pulitzer prize, does that not give him credibility ?

The Pulizter prize has no credibility whatsoever outside of extremist left-wing circles .

Conservative views are a big no-no , so dont even apply

Its extremely biased , to the point where rational views , even centrist views , are totally ignored , its 100% extreme left wing and rumored to be either sponsored or ideologically supported by the KGB .

"He may be Republican, I dont know." Ah, so you haven't even read the story then. Great Boatman.

And the Pulitzer Prize was actually awarded "for his penetrating and enterprising reporting that exposed loopholes and inequities in the U.S. tax code, which was instrumental in bringing about reforms."

Gareth FYI , I have read the article and listened to most of the skype interview( altho its a bit long) .

I dont know if he is really a Republican , he does not sound like one , and he may, like millions of American commentators , be lying.about his real political views .

Given the lies and deceit we have had recently from the American News media., I take everything said about Trump with a bucketful of salt

Frankly I dont believe anything that anyone says about Trump ,( least of all from anyone with a Pulitzer prize for radical - left - wing journalism ) the news media even edit what Trump has said to make it look like he has said things that he never said at all

The fact is Trump has won , and whether you are surprised , disappointed, outraged, depressed or suicidal , it would be a good idea to accept the outcome and GET USED TO IT .

Perhaps RINO is a more apt description "In an appearance on the Thursday broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Reid Report,” he stated that Republicans oppose higher taxes and spending because “there’s all sorts of areas where a fixed ideology that has no support in the empirical data gets into people’s heads and that’s what becomes important and there’s also an element of racism in here.”

Love it - elements of racism if you don't believe in tax and spend. No wonder he thinks Trump is a racist.

You haven't been keeping up to date with the news ... particularly the US latest Joint Strike Fighter

It's in trouble and has been for some years now

The F-35 Lightning II Program (also known as the Joint Strike Fighter Program) is the Department of Defense's focal point for defining affordable next generation strike aircraft weapon systems for the Navy, Air Force, Marines, and our allies. The F-35 will bring cutting-edge technologies to the battlespace of the futurehttp://www.jsf.mil/

It is over budget ... years over due ... and still doesn't cut the mustard

In trial simulations is has been discovered that the Russian Sukhoi T50 runs rings around the slow F35

Lockheed is doing everything to get the F35 into the air and operational but unable

You see ... you've never seen this published in New Zealand

The JSF is a joint project between US, UK, Canada and Australia. Australia is very unhappy

There is an echo of the post-Brexit rebellion in the street protests that have occurred throughout the US following the election of Donald Trump. In both cases there has been a refusal to accept the unexpected result. In both cases, particularly in the latter, there was widespread anticipation, prompted by inaccurate polling and biased media coverage, that the result would favour the outcome confidently predicted by the media frenzy.

The media are, of course, on the side of what is frequently described as "the establishment" and are largely to blame for having fostered, what turned out to be, unrealistic expectations. That is only a part of the problem. More significant is the apparent inability of the pro-Clinton encampments to graciously accept the outcome of a democratic process.

The source of the problem runs much deeper than the aberrant behaviour of the malcontents. It derives from a world view of the left -wing that they are the only ones who are right ( correct) , and a philosophical assurance that brooks no dissent of that view

Me thinks you underestimate the horror in the GOP at trump and all he is. Check out the guys at intelligence squared. They are rep's who value civil discourse and lament its loss. The moderate right is in absolute horror Trumps ineptitude.

No , I dont underestimate anything , the Republicans have in the main voted for him as President , and I think America is going to be better off under a Trump administration than a Clinton one .

America needs to sort its domestic mess out , sort out its under-employment , and get out of the costs of protecting everyone on the planet , they need to sort out illegal immigration , repair crumbling infrastructure, stop exporting their prosperity to low -wage economies to the detriment of their own folk .

Trump says he will do all of these things , he has been entrusted to do them by the American electorate , and now he must be given the opportunity to do so ............ end of story

Republican or not , lets not overlook the fact that David Cay Johnston is with the New York Times , a rabidly (and borderline extremist) anti-Trump newspaper who's journalists could not spell the word "balanced " without a spellcheck when it comes to its opinions , editorials and reporting on Trump generally .

Just google what they have said about him , its outrageous .

I dont know why anyone would even read such one-sided nonsense , and the NYT deserve to go out of business , if nothing else, but for their cycloptic views

FYI Boatman, David Cay Johnston is not with the NY Times these days. He was back when he won the Pulitzer Prize. There is detail here on who he writes for these days http://davidcayjohnston.com/about-david/

I used to like Trump & watched the apprentice religiously I thought of him as firm but fair.
When I heard he was considering running for President I was even supportive of him.
But then I heard his speeches it did not take a genius to realise he is a racist & incites violence
for his own personal pleasure. He is the epitome of all that is wrong with America he is a crook & a fraud!
He is not a self made millionaire he was given money from his father!! He will be America's biggest downfall!!!
Anyone who supports his regime should be ashamed!!!

Sorry I can't take the opinion of someone who watched The Apprentice "religiously" very, uh, seriously. Anyway what was Trump supposed to do with people who tried to disrupt his glorious rallies, be nice to them? Trump is a Nietzschean Superman, not your favorite uncle.

Zach you do post a lot of fluff here; for someone with a busy property portfolio you seem to have a lot of spare time to bang out your thoughts on your keyboard. I'm sure you have tenants you could attend to, or, at least consider getting outside for a fresh perspective.
Anyway, be a bit careful name dropping some of those old school German Philosophers. The last nut-job with Superman ideas failed get many sales in 1925 in Austria with his "self help" book, but had considerable success when he entered German politics a few years later, only to loose it all in spectacular fashion in the 1940's. I have a signed copy of the "The Art of the Deal" for you if you are interested in a bit of nostalgia.

I just thought M's comment came across as rather ridiculous and emotional and it has no less than seven nine exclamation marks! Please tell me you spelled lose wrong deliberately just to annoy me.
And really has M added anything of value in her comment that hasn't already been repeated ad nauseam ? My counter comment is merely a mirror image of M's comment as, when you think about it, it is not so different. Trump is the destroyer of the US, its untergang, even a destroyer of the Earth according to some commenters, is he not "super" in that respect?